Smartphone Penetration Hits 60% of the US Mobile Market; Facebook Top App

Smartphone penetration hit 60% of the US mobile subscriber market during the 3-month average ending in July, according to new figures from comScore. Penetration had most recently stood at 59% for the prior 2 months, although Nielsen had pegged the figure at 62%. Compared to the 3-month period ending in April (one quarter earlier), Apple’s share of the market grew by 1.2% points to 40.4%, while Android slipped by 0.2% points to 51.8% share. Comparing the latest figures to the Q2 average (ending in June), Apple’s gain was 0.5% points, while Android’s dip was 0.2% points.

Although Apple continues to hold the lead among smartphone manufacturers, Samsung has been enjoying some movement of late. Compared to the period ending in April, these latest figures show Samsung’s share up 2.1% points to 24.1%, still trailing Apple (40.4%) by a considerable margin of course.

HTC (-0.9% points to 8%), Motorola (-1.4% points to 6.9%) and LG (+0.1% points to 6.8%) are further behind.

Top Smartphones Properties and Apps

Separately, comScore released a list of the top 15 applications and properties among US smartphone mobile media users aged 18 and up who use iOS and Android platforms.

Facebook ranked as the top app in July in terms of reach (76.1%), followed by YouTube (53.7%) and a host of Google apps: Google Play (53.6%); Google Search (53.5%); Google Maps (46.2%); and Gmail (45%). Twitter (21.3%) came in at #14, while Google+ was unable to make the cut, despite indications that it is more popular on a global basis.

When factoring in the browsing audience, Google Sites ranks as the top property, with 92.6% reach of the total smartphone browsing and app audience. Facebook (86.3%) is next, followed by Yahoo! Sites (81.7%), Amazon Sites (66.8%) and Apple (50.2%).